Coast-to-Coast Bike Trek to Make San Francisco, CA Visit

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- A team of cyclists on a three-month bicycle trek across America will make local stops in San Francisco, CA Saturday, Oct. 16 through Monday, Oct. 18 to spread the message of preventing one of society's most devastating crimes, child sexual abuse.

The cross-country trip hopes to raise awareness and donations to benefit Darkness to Light (D2L, www.d2l.org), a nonprofit with a mission to teach adults how to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to sexual abuse of children.

The cyclists' team includes Tyler Gilliam, Landon Phillips and Mike Allen. The trio began their journey from Charleston, SC on July 31 and hope to arrive in Los Angeles, CA on Oct. 24.

"Our main goal is to raise awareness about the devastating impact of child sexual abuse on victims, families and society," said Gilliam. "It's a difficult subject to discuss. But public discussion and education is the only way to fight back and prevent these crimes from occurring. We are committed to opening up that discussion and creating dialogue about prevention all along our trek."

Gilliam says that discussion begins with alarming facts. There are an estimated 40 million victims of child sexual abuse in the U.S. It is linked to a host of social issues including teen pregnancy, psychiatric disorders and substance abuse. Statistics show one in four girls and one in six boys are sexually abused before age 18. Additionally, it ranks second to murder as the most expensive victim crime in the U.S., where costs for intervention and treatment surpass $3.4 billion annually.

During the bike trek, the team has been camping out at community fire stations and with D2L affiliate hosts. The team will interact with D2L representatives along the route, including news interviews, community rallies and speaking engagements.

The public is encouraged to support the team during its local visit by visiting www.pedalforprevention.com to make a donation.

About Darkness to Light and Child Sexual Abuse

D2L is a national non-profit, 501c3, and has created prevention education programs in 48 states and 10 foreign countries. D2L's "Stewards of Children" training programs form a grass roots push at the community level to educate parents, youth service organizations, youth sports leagues and coaches, faith centers and teachers / school leaders. Online training is available and workshop schedules may be found at www.d2l.org.

Web:  www.d2l.org, www.pedalforprevention.com

Twitter www.twitter.com/darkness2light

Facebook:  www.causes.com/darkness2light

SOURCE Darkness to Light